By Richard Andreoli On a sultry summer evening in July 1990, a vanload of Catholic young adults pulled into a Fresno gas station to refuel on their way home from Yosemite. In the back sat an 18-year-old guy who was normally the gregarious one of the bunch but in the last couple months had grown quiet, sullen, depressed by the understanding that he wasn't "going through a phase"; rather, he was gay, and positive that meant forever living a sad, lonely life. Ignoring the girls who were still buzzing from a week of camping, hiking and praising the Lord, the young man walked to the magazine rack and suddenly saw a handsome, young face staring out from the cover of Advocate Men. His heart suddenly raced, somehow knowing--knowing--that this Ryan Idol guy was gay. But instead of looking scared and alone, Ryan was confident, sexy, proud. That's what I want, the guy thought. I want friends like him. I want to be like him! Then taking the biggest risk of his life, the young man slipped the magazine onto the counter with his ID. That 20-second transaction lasted forever, and the magazine wouldn't be opened for another four hours until returning home, but at that point I knew I'd found my people, and life didn't seem quite so bleak anymore. For twenty years Men Magazine has been the leader in gay male pictorial magazines, presenting a veritable who's who of beautiful bodies from porn stars to every day folk. Originally published as Advocate Men, the magazine was born from the mind of John Knoebel, who at the time was working on the business side at Liberation Publications, publishers of The Advocate. John had worked for the company since 1979 and grown frustrated that LPI only offered one magazine, particularly because he saw the enormous growth potential in the gay market for erotic titles. "I was like the young Turk, always pushing us to do new things," says John, who still works for a subsidiary of LPI. Although he met initial resistance from various staff members at The Advocate who felt their resources were already spread too thin, John continued lobbying his idea until finally gaining support from the then-publisher and owner, David Goodstein. Advertisers soon jumped on board, but the content had to not only outshine the competition but also be exciting enough for readers to return. "A lot of porn in the earlier years had been either very closety or there'd been a certain dirty feeling to it," explains John. "[Like a man] had been offered $60 in Times Square and taken to a shabby hotel room [for] pictures. This was not the point of view [in Men]. The point of view was that gay men were now beautiful and proud and happy to be gay." Goodstein agreed, also insisting that models be photographed smiling and posed in luxurious settings so as to set an upscale tone. And when all these details joined, Men Magazine's 1984 inaugural issue was a huge success. To Caryn Goldberg, president of Specialty Publications, the current publishers of Men, this portrayal of gay men was exactly what the community was seeking. "At the time we were all so used to walking around and seeing emaciated guys just dropping like flies from HIV and AIDS [that] people got afraid of sex. But [Men] became sex positive, saying here are beautiful men for you to look at again." This distinctive image of the Men man, which John describes as originally being a masculine ideal with a certain heft and solidity to him, "was a positive self expression," says John. "We were taking our fate in our own hands, politically, socially and sexually." For any magazine to survive this long is a feat in itself, but Men now features a 75,000 issue circulation and outsells most other gay publications on the market. To toast this success Specialty Publications is releasing a special 20th Anniversary Edition this June, headed by editorial director, Gabriel Goldberg. "The Men 20th Anniversary Edition is twenty years of gay erotic history in pictorial form," says Gabriel, who explains that Specialty already covered the written history of Men in their 15th Anniversary Edition. While there will be some thoughts and quotes from industry contributors such as Ron Lloyd of Body Images Productions, Jonathan Black, Fred Bisonnes, and Kristen Bjorn, as well as an introduction from founder John Knoebel and a retrospective of Men's early years from author Felice Picano, Gabriel explains that predominantly, "This is all about the men and the models, not a lot of words." To that end, Gabriel has culled back issues and photo archives from the past two decades to not only select the best shots, but also feature images which haven't been seen before in print. "We also found some models who aren't necessarily the most popular but are really reminiscent and really indicative of Men of the time," he says. Beginning with Men's first cover model from June 1984, Colt Thomas, the issue will also feature such legends as Max Archer, Cole Faulkner, Lex Baldwin, Paul Becker, Aiden Shaw, Phil Bradley, Kevin Miles, Jordan Scott, Marcus Iron, and Colt model Jake Tanner who made his Men appearance in 1991. More than simply releasing the magazine, Caryn and her team have created The Men Magazine Tour Across America to celebrate the issue. "There are going to be 100 parties held in 88 cities between June and the end of December," she says, excitedly detailing this grassroots effort that will touch base with fans across the country. As the tour passes through each city, parties will be held at local clubs and include free giveaways, gift bags and door prizes, while some larger venues are hiring Men models to dance and sign autographs. The tour begins in Topeka, Kansas, and a detailed schedule can be found on the Men 20th Anniversary website (www.men20,com). While some might question why there's a need for Men, or even a 20th Anniversary Edition in our Will & Grace and Queer Eye For The Straight Guy society, John argues that Men has always been, "A celebration of one's sexuality," and as long as there a gay men in the world, there will be a need for such publications. Besides, some hot naked Men never hurt anyone.